Alarm was set for 04:30, in readiness to meet Greg Boswell at 05:00, for our slog into Stob Coire nan Lochan.
Greg had his eye on The Duel IX,9 ** so at first light I was off up the first and belayed high on the left hand side which greatly reduces the fall potential, whilst Greg clipped the first runner on pitch 2. A lot of hoar had built up, so it was time consuming for Greg to clear the walls looking for the tiny front point edges and at times even smaller hooks. I'm sure at times he levitated.. We were both surprised at how few good sinkers there are.
There is one hard mantle onto a small jutting block, and then it's into the hanging corner, again with some sketchy hooks and ledges, which lead to an easy ramp and the top of pitch 2.
Greg brought me up what I can only describe as the hardest technical, sketchy ground I've climbed. I was happy and relieved to reach the belay rest or fall free.
With the light fading we decided it was best for Greg to finish the top pitch.
Since I received the new Grivel Jedi axes a few weeks back, I'd only used them predominantly on ice, which felt very good indeed. Having them out on some seriously steep ground today was just awesome. From smashing them into tiny cracks to full body weight mantles and torques, these axes felt much better than previous technical tools I've used on mixed routes.
Awesome day.
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| Photo courtesy of Ken Applegate |
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| Photo Courtesy of Ken Applegate |
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| Photo Courtesy of Ken Applegate |
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| Jedi |
2 comments:
Nice one Steve good effort! Still feeling strong!
Are you guys going a France trip this year?
Maybe catch up for a Scottish day sometime
Ps. The jedi axe looks pretty cool!
Neil S
Cheers Neil.
Talking to Mr Prentice earlier. And we are looking towards a early April Alpine trip. Not bothering with the ice venues this year.
Yeah plenty of the season left, so I'm sure we can hook up for a route some time.
Keep in touch man.
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